Ex-Unilever Insights Execs Launch i-Genie.AI, Hire Two

Former Unilever insights execs Stan Sthanunathan and Paul Van Gendt have officially launched a company called i-Genie.AI, to help multinational corporations identify the 'next big thing'. The pair have also hired their ex-colleagues Linda Hoeberigs and Jason Hardman.

At Unilever in the US, Sthanunathan introduced more than 200 new insights generation tools and created the group's People Data Center, while Van Gendt was CMI Director for the People Data Centre, based in South Africa. Their new company i-Genie.AI generates insights and ideas 'without talking to consumers', through a range of products focussed on category trends, CX benchmarking, acquisition, brand health, and innovation. The firm currently has sixteen employees, spread across nine countries.

Hoeberigs, who is based in the Netherlands, joins as Head of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, after more than eight years at Unilever. Most recently, she headed data science, innovation, and AI for social media and business analytics, data-driven marketing, and the group's Consumer Engagement Centres. In Australia, Hardman joins as Chief Product Officer, after nearly eight years at Unilever, where he latterly served as CMI People Data Centre Labs Lead, having begun his career at entertainment industry data and insights provider WaveMetrix.

Commenting on the appointments, Sthanunathan said: 'Linda has a track record of building and utilising AI to solve business problems; along with deep subject matter expertise and experience of bringing data science to the fore in a business environment. This will ensure our clients get to utilise the latest AI methods for amazing business impact. Jason brings with him over a decade of experience in digital market research methods and an astounding track record of building digitised, automated, and market research products. His experience of helping to form innovative ideas and see them all the way to production is an exciting one that will ensure our clients get to lead the way in the AI insights space.'

Web site: www.i-genie.ai .